Andrea Pirlo. Biography

Andrea Pirlo was born on 19 May in 1979. The young midfielder’s first professional contract was with Brescia Calcio, where he showed outstanding performance and could not stay out of top clubs scouts’ sight and moved to Internazionale. During his second season at Inter Andrea was a substitute, rivaled by Youri Djorkaeff, Roberto Baggio and Álvaro Recoba for a place in the starting lineup. A little later Pirlo was loaned out to Reggina Calcio and then Brescia Calcio.

During the 2000/01 season Pirlo tried once again to secure a spot in Internazionale starting lineup, but after a blowout with the head coach he joined Inter’s old rivals A.C. Milan for estimated $10 million.

During his stay at Milan Andrea discovered most of his potential to become one of the best midfielders in the world. With the Rossoneri he won two Scudetto, two Champions Leagues, the Italian Cup, two UEFA Super Cups and featured in more than 200 appearances for the club.

Andrea Pirlo is known for his superior passing skills. He first joined the Italy national team in 2001 and ever since has been one of their key players.

Andrea became 2006 World Cup champion. He scored a goal against Ghana and was awarded the Man of the Match prize. In the semi-final he assisted on another goal, as Italy triumphed over Germany, and was named the Man of the Match again. In the final match against France his corner kick led to an equalizing goal which allowed Italy to finally overpower their rival and become champions in penalty shootout series.

During the UEFA Euro 2008 Andrea Pirlo appeared in all but one matches of the Italian national team and his team conceded in that fateful quarterfinal match against Spain. The reason for his absence was a second yellow card received during the match against France earlier in the tournament.

At Euro 2012 the aging Andrea Pirlo surprised all football analysts by delivering magnificent and efficient performance. His effort helped Italy make their way to the final match of the tournament and he was acknowledged by three Man of the Match awards in 6 matches.

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